Mobile device enabled robotic system

ABSTRACT

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with sensor modules and mobile devices (including smartphone, tablet) running intelligent software for autonomous navigation, onboard computer vision, communication, and robotic social networks, is disclosed herein.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present U.S. patent application is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/752,620, filed Nov. 25, 2015, which is relatedto and claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/085,329, filed Nov. 27, 2014, the contents ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into thisdisclosure.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs), and in particular to UAVs with sensors and mobiledevice/smartphone onboard as the center for computation, sensor dataacquisition and communication.

BACKGROUND

This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a betterunderstanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, these statements are to beread in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about whatis or is not prior art.

Recently, owning to the technical advances in robotics, unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs) are increasingly popular in many application domains.While UAVs/drones are currently successfully deployed for militaryapplications, their adoption and availability in commercial and civiliandomains are currently hindered by its high cost and limitedfunctionalities. The last few years have seen successes of commercialapplications emerging in aerial video photography, toy/game andmonitoring/surveillances. Functionalities of those systems, however, arestill limited to remote control by human and simple point-to-pointnavigation, and the cost is too high as well. In the meantime, themobile industry is one of the most rapidly-developing industries, whichbrings down the cost of portable mobile devices with increasingfunctionalities. A true disruptive wave of innovation will befacilitated if mobile robotics system (including UAVs) can fully takeadvantage of what the mobile industry has to offer. The low cost ofcomputation, hardware, and connectivity offered by the mobile industrywill be truly beneficial for mobile robotic industry (UAVs included).Moreover, the supporting resources and infrastructures, such as cellularinfrastructures and GPS satellites are already available for UAVs to tapinto. Therefore, there is an unmet need for the hardware and softwareintegration of mobile device and UAVs and commercialization of theachievable functionalities.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a system is disclosed, which includes a mobile devicecoupled to a mobile vehicle. The mobile device can be communicativelycoupled to the mobile vehicle, and in yet another embodiment, the mobiledevice can be physically coupled to the mobile vehicle. The mobiledevice includes at least one sensor, at least one processor, and atleast one communication means. The at least one communication means iscapable of communicating and networking among robotic mobile vehiclesand between robotic mobile vehicles and humans, using social networkingand/or messaging services and accessing, storing, and retrievinginformation from the Internet. The mobile vehicle includes a chassis, atleast one actuator, and a power source. The mobile device can furtherinclude at least one actuator and can further include a power source.The mobile device can also be configured to gain power from the powersource of the mobile vehicle. The mobile device can also be configuredto gain power from the power source from the mobile device itself.

In another aspect, the mobile vehicle can be a robot, an unmanned aerialvehicle, a humanoid an unmanned land vehicle, an unmanned underwatervehicle, and/or an unmanned watercraft. The mobile device can be amobile phone, a smartphone-type device, and/or a tablet.

In yet another aspect, a system is presented which includes at least onerobot that is configured to communicate with at least one target. Thesystem also includes at least one communication means, wherein thecommunication means is capable of communicating and networking amongrobotic mobile vehicles and between robotic mobile vehicles and humans,using human social networking and/or messaging services and accessing,storing, and retrieving information from the Internet and/or dedicatedrobot social networking and/or messaging services, which includeintelligent software applications run on a mobile device. The mobiledevice is attached to a vehicle, and the mobile device is capable ofdecision making, autonomous navigation and social interactions amongrobots and between robot and human, which can be accomplished onboardand/or through cloud computing. The target can include a human and/or arobot. The robot can be an autonomous robot and/or a home applianceand/or an autonomous vehicle.

In yet another aspect, a method of communication and networking amongrobotic mobile vehicles and between robotic mobile vehicles and humansusing human social networking or dedicated robot social networkingmethods is presented. The method includes running an intelligentsoftware application on a mobile device, wherein the mobile device isattached to a vehicle. The mobile device is capable of decision making,autonomous navigation and interactions among robots and between robotand human. The human social networking can include at least one humaninteracting with at least one robot to achieve a natural and intelligentinteraction. The dedicated robot networking includes at least one robotinteracting with at least one other robot to achieve networkinginteraction.

In yet another aspect, a method of communication and networking amongrobotic mobile vehicles and between robotic mobile vehicles and humansusing messaging services or dedicated robotic messaging services,comprising running an intelligent software application on a mobiledevice, wherein the mobile device is attached to a vehicle, and whereinthe mobile device is capable of decision making, autonomous navigationand interactions among robots and between robot and human. The messagingservices can include at least one human interacting with at least onerobot to achieve a natural and intelligent interaction. The dedicatedrobotic messaging services can include at least one robot interactingwith at least one other robot to achieve networking interaction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the hardware architecturedisclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram of one embodiment of the herein describedsystem.

FIG. 3 is a system diagram of an embodiment of the herein describedmobile device.

FIG. 4 is a system diagram of an embodiment of the herein describedmobile vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a system diagram of an embodiment of the herein describedsystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of thepresent disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used todescribe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitationof the scope of this disclosure is thereby intended.

A low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with sensor modulesand mobile devices (for instance, a smartphone or tablet) runningintelligent software for autonomous navigation, onboard computer vision,communication, and robotic social networks, is disclosed herein. Thesensor modules include but are not limited to cameras, radar, LIDAR,ultrasonic range sensors, night vision cameras, stereovision systems,laser range finder, pressure sensors, altimeter to measure variousenvironment information such as obstacle detection, distance to theobstacle, recognition of other objects in front and around the vehicle,point cloud map/3D mapping of surroundings, therefore provide possiblesensing for functions of obstacle avoidance, boundary following,collision avoidance, and autonomous navigation. The mobiledevice/smartphone serves as the center of computation, sensor dataacquisition, storage and analysis, connectivity through cellularnetwork, RF communication (such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi). The camera ofthe mobile device can work as the primary or one of the imageacquisition sensors. The software running on the mobile device includesbut not limited to navigation planning algorithms, imageprocessing/computer vision algorithms, sensor data analysis, trajectoryplanning algorithms, connectivity to the cloud, and GUI. The softwarearchitecture includes three layers: a high level layer hybrid automataswitching between behaviors such as robotic social networking,artificial intelligent planning (including for instance, reading in mapand GPS and generating intermediary waypoints); a middle level layerhybrid automata generating trajectory and avoiding obstacle betweenwaypoints; a low level layer trajectory tracking and flightstabilization feedback controller. The hardware architecture includesthree parts: the unmanned aerial vehicle (with/without onboard low levelstabilizing controller), variety of sensor modules attached to theunmanned aerial vehicle, and a mobile device including cellarconnectivity, camera, GPS, CPU, storage, RF communication (Wi-Fi,Bluetooth), attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle. For purposes of thepresent disclosure, social networking refers to platforms and servicesdesigned for building online communities and communication andinteraction capabilities. Most social networks are web-based and provideways for users to interact and communicate. In addition, for thepurposes of the present disclosure, messaging services means textualand/or pictorial and/or visual communication between users. Each messagehas an originator and at least one recipient. The originator can be ahuman and/or a social network, and/or a robot. The users and the atleast one recipient can similarly be humans and/or social networks,and/or robots. Further, for purposes of the present disclosure, a robotrefers to a reprogrammable, multifunction manipulator designed to movematerials, which can include, parts, tools, humans, living creatures,and/or specialized devices. This can be accomplished through variableprogrammed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks.

Hardware of the novel system featuring the mobile device(s) (such as asmartphone), the robot (such as UAV), and wireless (or wired) sensormodules, is presented here. The sensors are communicatively coupled tothe mobile device(s) and/or UAV's electronics. The sensor readings arecollected and analyzed using algorithms, which compute usefulinformation for the navigation system. The mobile device sends outcommands to drive the UAV. It should be appreciated that although asmartphone is presented as an embodiment, a mobile device as used hereincan be a smartphone-type device, a tablet, and similar devices thatexhibit communication, sensing and computing power similar to asmartphone-type device.

The hardware architecture is disclosed herein. In one embodiment,referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of sensor modules 103 (FIG. 1) isplaced in predetermined locations on the vehicle. The mobile device 102(including for example, a smartphone) is physically attached onto thebody of the UAV.

Referring to FIG. 2 for the system diagram, in one embodiment, themobile device (including for example, a smartphone) serves as the centerof computation with its CPU, memory and data storage. It also providessensor data acquisition for its own sensors (such as GPS, IMU,temperature and Camera) and outside sensor modules 103. Sensor modules103 can include but are not limited to cameras, radar, LIDAR, ultrasonicrange sensors, night vision cameras, stereovision systems, laser rangefinder, pressure sensors, and altimeters etc. The navigation system 115as a software bundle running on the mobile phone takes in the sensorreadings and generates command to drive UAV 101. The phone camera 117records the video of the surroundings and feeds the data to either datastorage 118 or upload through cellular network 113 to online storage oronline website, or to the computer vision algorithms 116. The computervision algorithms 116 provide analysis of the visional data and generateinformation to be used by navigation system 115. A graphical userinterface (GUI) 119 is also provided through the phone's touch screenfor possible interaction with operator or people. The robot socialnetwork 120 provides the arena of communication among group of UAVs orbetween human and UAVs.

Referring to FIG. 3, a system diagram for an embodiment of the mobiledevice 102 is shown. Still referring to FIG. 3, sensor modules 103 arecoupled to a processor 151, which is further coupled to a communicationmeans 161. The mobile device 102 can also optionally include at leastone actuator 181. A power source 171 supplies power to the mobile device102. The mobile device 102 can be any one of or a combination of asmartphone, a tablet, or a personal digital assistant. In some aspectsthe power source 171 can be any one of or a combination of a battery,solar power, or even mechanical power.

Referring to FIG. 4, a system diagram for an embodiment of the mobilevehicle 202 is shown. Still referring to FIG. 4, the mobile vehicle 202includes a sensor module 104, which is coupled to a chassis 191. Themobile vehicle 202 can also include at least one actuator 172. Themobile vehicle 202 can also optionally include a processor 182. Themobile device 202 also includes a power source 152. The mobile vehicle202 can be any one of or a combination of a robot, a humanoid, a car, aUAV, or even an underwater vehicle. Referring to FIG. 5, in oneembodiment, the mobile device 102 and the mobile vehicle 202 can bephysically and/or communicatively coupled. In some aspects the powersource 152 can be any one of or a combination of a battery, solar power,or even mechanical power.

Referring to FIG. 2, the software architecture (not shown) for thenavigation system 115 can include three layers: a high level layerhybrid automata switching between behaviors such as task planning,artificial intelligent planning (including for example, reading in mapand GPS and generating intermediary waypoints); a middle level layerhybrid automata generating trajectory and avoiding obstacle betweenwaypoints; a low level layer trajectory tracking and flightstabilization feedback controller.

For sensing, in one embodiment, for widely available computation power,the mobile device 102, such as a smartphone-type device or a tabletdevice, is the center for higher-level image processing and/or computervision algorithms and/or sensor fusion algorithms. In yet anotherembodiment, robust ultrasonic range sensors may be used to achieveobstacle and collision avoidance. In yet another embodiment, LIDAR isused to make high-resolution maps.

For system mapping and localization, in one embodiment, the map of forthe navigation system 116 is downloaded from existing Map services suchas Google Map® and TomTom® for real-time navigation and trafficinformation. In yet another embodiment, the map is constructed along theway with onboard sensor and mapping algorithms. In yet anotherembodiment, Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi and/or cellular are used forlocalization for the position or relative position of the UAVs. Thusformation control of UAVs is realized. In yet another embodiment, SLAM(simultaneous localization and mapping) is used to acquire the mappingand system location without using GPS and map services.

For communication between human and robots, in one embodiment, the robotsocial network is used, where either existing social network such asFacebook®, Twitter® and any other human online social networking methodsare adopted. Thus in this embodiment, a human user can send command orto-do-list for the robot via online messaging, status posting, and/orhash tagging or any other existing methods that are used by human on theonline social networks. The robot can do social updates using similarexisting methods to messaging or update the current status via words,photos and/or videos. In another embodiment, the communications betweenrobot and human are thought the existing methods of text message andphone call between mobile phones.

For communication and networking between robots, in one embodiment, therobot social network is used, where either existing social network suchas Facebook®, Twitter® and any other human online social networkingmethods are adopted. Thus in this embodiment, robots can send command orto-do-list for the other robot via online messaging, status posting,and/or hash tagging or any other existing methods that are used by humanon the online social networks. The robot can do social updates usingsimilar existing methods to messaging or update the current status viawords, photos and/or videos. In another embodiment, the communicationsamong robots are through the existing methods of text message and phonecall between mobile phones. In yet another embodiment, thecommunications among robots are using Bluetooth networks. In yet anotherembodiment, the communications among robots are using Wi-Fi networks.

In yet another embodiment, a system is disclosed, which includes amobile device coupled to a mobile vehicle. The mobile device can becommunicatively coupled to the mobile vehicle, and in yet anotherembodiment, the mobile device can be physically coupled to the mobilevehicle. The mobile device includes at least one sensor, at least oneprocessor, and at least one communication means. The at least oneprocessor is configured to make operational decisions through local orcloud-based computing. The at least one communication means is capableof communicating and networking among robotic mobile vehicles andbetween robotic mobile vehicles and humans, using social networkingand/or messaging services and accessing, storing, and retrievinginformation from the Internet. The mobile vehicle includes a chassis, atleast one actuator, and a power source. The mobile device can furtherinclude at least one actuator and can further include a power source.The mobile device can also be configured to gain power from the powersource of the mobile vehicle. The mobile device can also be configuredto gain power from the power source from the mobile device itself.

In yet another embodiment, the mobile vehicle can be a robot, anunmanned aerial vehicle, a humanoid an unmanned land vehicle, anunmanned underwater vehicle, and/or an unmanned watercraft. The mobiledevice can be a mobile phone, a smartphone-type device, and/or a tablet.

In yet another embodiment, a system is presented which includes at leastone robot that is configured to communicate with at least one target.The system also includes at least one communication means, wherein thecommunication means is capable of communicating and networking amongrobotic mobile vehicles and between robotic mobile vehicles and humans,using human social networking and/or messaging services and accessing,storing, and retrieving information from the Internet and/or dedicatedrobot social networking and/or messaging services, which includeintelligent software applications run on a mobile device. The mobiledevice is attached to a vehicle, and the mobile device is capable ofdecision making, autonomous navigation and social interactions amongrobots and between robot and human, which can be accomplished onboardand/or through cloud computing. The target can include a human and/or arobot. The robot can be an autonomous robot and/or a home applianceand/or an autonomous vehicle.

In yet another embodiment, a method of communication and networkingamong robotic mobile vehicles and between robotic mobile vehicles andhumans using human social networking or dedicated robot socialnetworking methods is presented. The method includes running anintelligent software application on a mobile device, wherein the mobiledevice is attached to a vehicle. The mobile device is capable ofdecision making, autonomous navigation and interactions among robots andbetween robot and human. The human social networking can include atleast one human interacting with at least one robot to achieve a naturaland intelligent interaction. The dedicated robot networking includes atleast one robot interacting with at least one other robot to achievenetworking interaction.

In yet another embodiment, a method of communication and networkingamong robotic mobile vehicles and between robotic mobile vehicles andhumans using messaging services or dedicated robotic messaging services,comprising running an intelligent software application on a mobiledevice, wherein the mobile device is attached to a vehicle, and whereinthe mobile device is capable of decision making, autonomous navigationand interactions among robots and between robot and human. The messagingservices can include at least one human interacting with at least onerobot to achieve a natural and intelligent interaction. The dedicatedrobotic messaging services can include at least one robot interactingwith at least one other robot to achieve networking interaction.

The herein disclosed systems and methods can be easily integrated intoany existing vehicle (including ground vehicles and aerial vehicles) andwill thereby permit low-cost transformation of existing mobile roboticssystem (including UAVs) into an intelligent system with aforementionedadvanced functionalities. It should be appreciated that although groundand aerial vehicles are disclosed as embodiments, these ground vehiclesand aerial vehicles are not limited to inanimate objects. Animate users(including animals and humans) may be the vehicles as well. In addition,although referenced is made herein to “mobile” robots, such use is notintended to be limiting and rather, the robots can include stationaryrobots as well.

Example 1: Human-Robot Interactions

As an example of the herein described systems and methods, a human usermay need to accomplish household chores, for instance, grocery shopping.Using the herein described system and method, the user can provideinstructions to a mobile device, for example “pick up groceries” andwill list the groceries needed. The mobile device sends the instructions(which can include using natural language) to a robot (which can beeither autonomous or human-driven), such as a car. The car can then bealerted that groceries need to be picked up and can act on thoseinstructions. Other examples include laundry and house cleaning.

There are at least two ways in which such interactions can occur:through messaging services and/or through social interactions. Thesemessaging services are defined to include email and instant messaging,and short messaging services.

Example 2: Robot-Robot Interactions

Another example of the herein described systems and methods involvesrobots interacting with other robots from human instructions. As anexample, if a task, such as the lawn on a human user's house needs to bemowed, the instructions can be sent to a robot, which can then interactwith other robots using a social media network to optimize accomplishingacting on the instructions to finish the task. The robots and the humanuser can all then be kept updated through a social media network on theprogress of the task. There are at least two ways in which suchinteractions can occur: through dedicated robotic social networkingand/or messaging services, and/or human social media and messagingservice interactions. These messaging services are defined to includeemail and instant messaging, and short messaging services.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications canbe made to the specific implementations described above. Theimplementations should not be limited to the particular limitationsdescribed. Other implementations may be possible.

1. A system, comprising: a mobile device, wherein the mobile devicecomprises: at least one communication means, wherein the communicationmeans is capable of communicating among robotic mobile vehicles andbetween robotic mobile vehicles and humans using a messaging service,wherein the at least one communication means is configured to access,store, and retrieve information from the Internet; and a mobile vehicle,wherein the mobile vehicle is coupled to the mobile device, and themobile vehicle comprises: a chassis; at least one actuator; and a powersource.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device furthercomprises at least one actuator.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein themobile device further comprises a power source.
 4. The system of claim1, wherein the mobile device is configured to gain power from the powersource of the mobile vehicle.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein themobile device is configured to gain power from the power source of themobile device.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile vehicle is arobot.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile vehicle is anunmanned aerial vehicle.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobilevehicle is a humanoid.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobilevehicle is an unmanned land vehicle.
 10. The system of claim 1, whereinthe mobile vehicle is an unmanned underwater vehicle.
 11. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the mobile vehicle is an unmanned watercraft.
 12. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone.
 13. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a tablet.
 14. The systemof claim 1, wherein the mobile device is communicatively coupled to themobile vehicle.
 15. A system, comprising: at least one robot, whereinthe at least one robot is configured to communicate with at least onetarget; at least one communication means, wherein the communicationmeans is capable of communicating among robotic mobile vehicles andbetween robotic mobile vehicles using a messaging service, wherein theat least one communication means is configured to access, store, andretrieve information from at least one of the Internet, a dedicatedrobot social networking, or a messaging service, wherein the mobiledevice is coupled to a vehicle, and wherein the mobile device is capableof decision making, autonomous navigation, interactions among robots,and interactions between a robot and a human; and wherein the vehiclecomprises an actuator.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the at leastone target comprises a human.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the atleast one target comprises a robot.
 18. The system of claim 17, whereinthe robot is an autonomous robot.
 19. The system of claim 18, whereinthe autonomous robot is a home appliance and/or an autonomous vehicle.20. A method of communicating among robotic mobile vehicles and betweenrobotic mobile vehicles using a social network comprising: running anintelligent software application on a mobile device, wherein the mobiledevice is coupled to a vehicle, and wherein the mobile device is capableof decision making, autonomous navigation, interactions among robots,and interactions between robot and human, wherein the vehicle comprisesan actuator.